1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to products and methods for heating comestibles. More particularly, this invention relates to containers and packages that may be used to heat liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles, e.g., in combination microwave and convection ovens.
2. Description of Related Art
Soups, sauces, chilis, and other such liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles are often served in eating establishments, e.g., restaurants and cafeterias. Many eating establishments, especially quick service restaurants (QSR), do not prepare such foods from scratch. Rather, eating establishments often heat up ready-made liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles that were previously prepared and cooked by comestible manufacturers. These comestibles are often packaged and stored at room temperature or are refrigerated or frozen until they are ready to be heated and served.
Eating establishments may use any of a number of different modalities to heat liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles. For example, large amounts of soup are often heated at one time in a large pot on a stove or warmer and then transferred to soup bowls, one serving at a time. However, heating a large amount of soup takes a long time. Often, the soup is maintained at a hot temperature for hours until all of it is served or any remaining portion is disposed of. The result is an over-cooked product, much of which goes to waste. In addition, the pot, utensils and soup bowls (unless disposable) will need to be cleaned after use. While microwave ovens may be used to heat such comestibles, a significant number of eating establishments, especially in the QSR segment, do not have microwave ovens.
Increasingly, eating establishments are using combination microwave and convection ovens, such as those sold under the trademark TURBOCHEF®, to cook or reheat essentially solid comestibles. Combination microwave and convection ovens use both microwave energy and convection heating to enable rapid and convenient cooking and heating of comestibles. For example, such ovens can quickly warm hoagies and grinders, leaving the bread crispy rather than soft or soggy, as would be the likely result using a microwave oven alone.
Notwithstanding their increasing popularity in eating establishments, combination microwave and convection ovens are not used to heat liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles because there are currently no feasible means to do so, especially in the QSR setting. Typical microwaveable cookware, such as ceramics, glass, PYREX®, foams, ovenable plastics, or ovenable paper/paperboard, are not practical and in some cases unsuitable for heating soups and the like in combination microwave and convection ovens. Disposable containers made from ovenable paper/paperboard, ovenable plastic and foam can only be used in ambient temperatures of up to about 400° F. Those materials will melt or burn if subjected to the ambient environment of a combination microwave and convection oven, which typically holds at 480° F. or above all day in an eating establishment (especially in a QSR). Thus, while disposable materials are convenient in that they allow for little to no cleanup after use, currently available disposable containers are unfit for direct use in combination microwave and convection ovens.
Ceramics, glass and PYREX®, on the other hand, can withstand ambient temperatures in a combination microwave and convection oven. However, those materials retain a significant amount of heat. Consequently, they can be extremely hot to the touch. In addition, heating comestibles directly in containers made from such reusable materials would require that the containers be cleaned after use. Accordingly, ceramic, glass and PYREX® cookware are inconvenient for an operator to use for heating soups and the like in combination microwave and convection ovens, especially in a QSR setting, where the operator works under tight time constraints. Also, heating soup and the like directly in ceramic, glass or PYREX® cookware in a combination microwave and convection oven can burn or scorch the soup due to the extremely high temperatures in such an oven. Thus, ceramic, glass and PYREX® cookware are not feasible options for an operator, especially in a QSR setting, to deliver a quality product with convenience and speed using a combination microwave and convection oven.
In short, many eating establishments have combination microwave and convection ovens and serve hot liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles. But such eating establishments tend not to use such ovens to heat such comestibles because there are no practical and disposable means to do so. This is indeed surprising, considering that combination microwave and convection ovens have been commercially available for many years and have greatly increased in popularity in recent years. Accordingly, there is a need for practical systems and methods that enable liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles to be heated in combination microwave and convection ovens. Such systems and methods should enable rapid and substantially uniform heating of the comestible in a manner that is convenient and would require little to no cleanup. Preferably, such systems and methods would be used for heating single-serving packages of liquid, semi-solid or liquid/solid combination comestibles. More preferably, such systems and methods would provide thermal protection to a single-serve comestible-containing disposable package so that the package can withstand the high ambient temperatures (e.g., 480° F. to 540° F.) in a combination microwave and convection oven.